It should go without saying that you or your company will want to stay under a budget when producing a video. Whether your video is meant to introduce customers to your company, your employees, or your products, or if it’s part of another kind of advertising push, the production only makes sense if you can stay within a reasonable cost. That’s simple business, and at AMP, we are very aware of this simple fact.
So then it makes sense that you will be looking to keep your costs down during production. But did you know that you can save money and ensure more video for your dollar before your concept has even left the page? You’d be surprised how simple it can be. As a screenwriter, I can often save budget just by changing two letters on a page of script.
How? It’s easy. Look at what happens when I change the letters EXT to INT.
Bam, presto, abracadabra. I just cut money from the script by making the shoot leaner and easier on the cast and crew.
That’s because, in a script’s scene headings, EXT stands for “Exterior” and INT stands for “Interior,” and what a difference that makes. Promotional videos love to shoot outside because they can take advantage of available resources like an attractive natural setting or even the sun (a free light is always a great thing to have). But there are hidden costs in exterior shooting that makes it, overall, a more expensive option. For one thing, where will our film crew draw the power they need for various equipment? Will we need to bring a generator? We may need more specialized sound recording equipment, or different lenses for the camera, all to accommodate the ambient outdoor lighting and sounds. And all of that isn’t even considering the biggest enemy of outdoor shooting–the weather! Inclement weather can postpone shoots or cut them in half, and every time the crew gets together, they must be paid. Adding just one extra shoot day to your schedule can be a budget-buster. Meanwhile, interior locations allow for a controllable setting. It doesn’t matter if it rains or snows, the light never changes, and planes don’t roar by overhead. There’s a reason major productions have embraced shooting on sets in order to add exterior backgrounds digitally.
So you can save money by moving the shoot inside, but that’s just one method of location management. A general rule of thumb is to aim to shoot in as few, controllable locations as possible. If a location is public, or must be rented out, then that obviously adds costs from permits and rental fees. And the fewer locations the better, because every time the crew moves, it costs time. And in video production, it’s not just a cliché to say that time is money.
These are just a few helpful tips that we consider during the scriptwriting process, but there’s so many more. When you’re ready to put us to work for you, AMP is here.
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